The options include plans that would divide the city into either four districts or six.

The mayor would continue to serve at large.

One of the main concerns that residents and some commissioners raised is that all of the plans divide some neighborhoods - a big issue for some in Hollywood, which has a history of strong neighborhood activism.

But some, like Andy Backs, the Hollywood Hills Civic Association president, said dividing a powerful voting neighborhood such as his could mean that area would elect two commissioners in separate districts.

Race is also a big issue as the city considers creating districts. Many see this as a chance to boost the likelihood that the black community could elect a minority candidate.

But some said that grouping the wealthy, predominantly white neighborhood of Emerald Hills with the mostly black and lower-income Liberia would cancel out the black vote instead of boosting it as some districting supporters aim to do.

Similar concerns arose about another plan, which would put the powerful Hillcrest condo vote in a district that would be 38 percent black.

The most recent figures available show that the city is about 75 percent white, 15 percent Hispanic, 11 percent black and 1.6 percent other.

The Hispanic population is spread throughout the city and would not be able to form a voting bloc under districting.

Among those who spoke for districting was the Rev. Maurice Dawkins of the Fort Lauderdale branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

But some residents, like Russ Chard, president of the city's firefighters union, said they think it will give them less representation rather than more.

"Currently I can vote for all five members of the commission," Chard said. "You're diluting my vote down to two out of five or two out of seven."

Hollywood is a difficult city to break up into equal voting areas while maintaining the boundaries of the various neighborhoods and complying with legal requirements on voting districts, said Patricia Schapley, a consultant from the FAU/FIU Joint Center on Urban Problems who was hired to help the city form a plan.

Supporters of districting say a plan can be drawn that would preserve the neighborhoods and give them a better chance of local representation.

Commissioner John Coleman, who has pushed hard for districting, said it would also act as a kind of campaign finance reform because it would make it cheaper for candidates to run in a smaller geographic area.